| Divisidero has an airstrip which we drove on. It is
just a dirt strip and at the end just drops off into the canyon. Hairy! |  |
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It is difficult to establish exact figures for the canyon because the
sources all quote something different. They just all agree it is bigger then
the Grand Canyon. |
| A display of work at Divisidero. The train stops here
for about 15 minutes. You can look at the view, look at the handicrafts or
get something to eat. You can't do all three! |  |
 As
with the trees in the Grand Canyon, they grow very slowly and in the most
inhospitable places. How this one survives is beyond me it appears to be
rooted into solid rock. |
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| The government is putting money into the tourist
industry in the area. Divisadero has a number of viewing points like this
one, well built and maintained, and with visitor safety in mind, safety barriers
at the main spots. It just wouldn't do to lose the odd tourist or two. |  |
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Jan admires the amazing view. She helps to give some sort of perspective. |
| But this shows the river in the canyon bottom rather
better. Awesome! |  |
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After a while you become sort of shell shocked at the sheer vastness of it
all. |
| We eventually moved on to the mission at St Ignacio,
outside Creel, and the
peculiar rock formations there. |  |
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The rocks have been weathered and dissolve away over time. They have various
names but are generally called the mushroom rocks. |
| This is because they frequently seem to have a head
and stem as the water has undercut the rock. Taramuhara live here and
inevitably try to sell you things. |  |
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The basketwork is quite attractive but you can only have so much. This is a
really good example of the mushroom rocks. |
| She is quite attractive too! |  |
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The settlement is quite primitive but the housing is relatively solid and
not a shantytown construction. |
| And so into Creel to another small hotel/lodging
house. We had room 13 and the view is taken from our doorway. |  |
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We had a wander around the town (this is the Catholic church). We tried to
find a restaurant or bar for a drink but a ban on serving alcohol anywhere
was in force to try to prevent the spread of swine flu. We finally found
some beer at an off licence but we had a dry dinner (excellent none the
less). We spent more time putting the world to rights because we were all
going our separate ways in the morning. The Frenchman was particularly
interesting because he had been travelling mostly by bus for three months in
Guatemala and the poorer provinces of Mexico in the south so he was able to
talk of conditions there and in Mexico City (pretty grim!). |
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